1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a genetic robot, and more particularly to a software robot apparatus and a method for expressing the behavior of a software robot by the software robot apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a genetic robot refers to an artificial creature, a software robot (i.e., a sobot), or a general robot, each of which has its own genetic codes. A genetic code of a robot signifies a single robot genome including multiple artificial chromosomes. The software robot refers to an artificial creature in the form of software, which can move through a network, can act as an independent software agent interacting with a user, and can act as an intelligent unit of a robot that connects a hardware robot with a sensor network. The term “robot” itself signifies a robot in the general sense, which has elements of typical senses, intelligence, and behavior in a physical environment. Accordingly, in the case where a software robot is substituted for an intelligent unit of a robot, in meaning which commonly holds true, it goes without saying that the present invention is equally valid in a common robot. An intelligent unit of a robot can be replaced either through optional replacement through a network or another storage medium in a ubiquitous environment beyond time and space or by embedding a replacement in a robot during the manufacturing of the robot.
The multiple artificial chromosomes defined in the above software robot interact with an environment outside of the robot and define individuality or personality peculiar to the robot, which determine change of internal states including motivation, homeostasis, emotion states, etc., in the robot and expressed behavior accompanied by the change of internal states. Table 1 below shows the definitions of an artificial creature, motivation, homeostasis, emotions, and behavior.
TABLE 1artificialAn artificial creature that acts on the motivation of a robotcreatureitself, has emotions, and can select its behavior, interactingwith a human being in real time.Individ-It is not a simple summarization of behavior but is aualitydeterminer of a part or the whole thereof, and may beconstrued as personality in view of a human being. Aconcept including motivation, homeostasis, and emotions.Namely, an individuality engine corresponds to an enginehaving all of motivation, homeostasis, and emotions. Adeterminer that generates various kinds of internal statesand behavior expressions.Motiva-A process which motivates and keeps activities of a livingtionbody, and controls the pattern of the activities thereof.Causes of selecting and performing behavior. For example,curiosity, intimacy, boredom, evasive desire,possessiveness, and the like.Homeo-A function which enables an organism to keep a stablestasisphysiological state as an individual even if it is incessantlyaffected by changes of external and internal environments.Causes of selecting and performing behavior. For instance,hunger, sleepiness, fatigue, and the like.EmotionsSubjective restlessness induced when a living body takes acertain behavior. For example, happiness, sadness, angerfear, and the like.BehaviorThe general term for an individual's behaviors, includingmoving to a specific spot, stopping, and the like. Forinstance, in the case of animals, sleeping, feeding, running,and the like. The number of kinds of behaviors that anindividual can select is limited, and in a certain instant, eachindividual can execute only one behavior.
The artificial chromosome includes essential element-related genetic information, internal state-related genetic information, and behavior determination-related genetic information. The essential element-related genetic information refers to essential parameters which have a great effect on the change of internal states and external behavior expression. The internal state-related genetic information refers to parameters which affect internal states of a robot in relation to an external input applied to the robot. Furthermore, the behavior determination-related genetic information refers to parameters which determine external behavior related to the above internal states, depending on currently determined internal states.
The internal states refer to states, such as motivation, homeostasis, emotions, and the like. In other words, as noted from Table 2 below, the internal states of the robot can be determined by respective internal states and parameters of the internal states depending on respective external stimuli, i.e., by the genetic information related to the internal states.
TABLE 2Internal statesExternalMotivationHomeostasisEmotionsstimuliIntimacy. . .HostilityHunger. . .SleepinessHappiness. . .Sadnesspatting80. . .−400. . .040. . .−20beating−30 . . . 500. . .0−30 . . . 30surprising 0. . . 50. . .010. . . 0. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .soothing40. . .−400. . .050. . .−50
The same can be said for the behavior determination-related genetic information. However, the behavior determination-related genetic information includes various expressible behaviors, instead of the external stimuli. That is, the behavior determination-related genetic information includes parameters related to specific behaviors for respective internal states, i.e. parameters of internal states, such as motivation, homeostasis, and emotions, which have values capable of expressing respective behaviors.
Essential parameters that have a great effect on a change of each internal state and on external behavior expression may include a volatility, an initial value, an average mean value, a convergence value, an attenuation value according to time, a specific value determined by a specific time, and the like. Such essential parameters may separately include essential element-related genetic information. Hence, this essential element-related genetic information can include: a volatility according to each of the internal states, that is, internal states of motivation, homeostasis, and emotion, an initial value, an average mean value, a convergence value, an attenuation value, a specific value, and so on. As described above, a robot genome includes the essential element-related genetic information, the internal state-related genetic information, and the behavior determination-related genetic information. The essential element-related genetic information includes parameters of internal states and elements, which correspond to the internal states and are essential to a change of the internal states and expression of external behaviors. The internal state-related genetic information includes parameters of various external stimuli and internal states corresponding to the external stimuli. The behavior determination-related genetic information includes parameters of various expressed behaviors and internal states corresponding to the expressed behaviors. Namely, as noted from Table 3 below, the robot genome can express, through a two-dimensional matrix, genetic information according to respective internal states and according to essential elements, external stimuli, and expressed behaviors corresponding to the internal states, respectively.
TABLE 3MotivationHomeostasisEmotionIntimacy. . .HostilityHunger. . .SleepinessHappiness. . .SadnessEssentialVolatilityEssential element-Essential element-Essential element-elementsInitial valuerelated generelated generelated gene. . .(motivation)(homeostasis)(emotion)AttenuationValueExternalPattingInternal state-Internal state-Internal state-stimuliBeatingrelated generelated generelated gene. . .(motivation)(homeostasis)(emotion)SoothingExpressedLaughingBehaviorBehaviorBehaviorbehaviorLookingdetermination-determination-determination-aroundrelated generelated generelated gene. . .(motivation)(homeostasis)(emotion)Rolling
Therefore, a current robot platform determines a specific expressed behavior based on current internal states, such as motivation, homeostasis, emotions, and implements behavior based on the determination. For example, if an internal state of a robot corresponds to a hungry state, the robot determines to execute a behavior for something or other and puts the determination into action. As a result, the robot can be implemented so as to act like an actual creature. The software robot having the characteristics as described above should provide a user with services without restrictions on time and space in a ubiquitous environment. Therefore, in order to freely move over a network, the software robot has an IP address of a transitable device.
As described above, a conventional software robot forms an emotion and then selects the final behavior based on the internal states, that is, based on motivation for a determination of behavior, homeostasis for maintenance of life, and emotion expressed by facial expression. Accordingly, a conventional software robot apparatus includes: a recognition unit for sensing an external environment; an internal state unit for expressing internal states, such as an emotion of a virtual creature; a behavior determination unit for determining the behavior of the virtual creature by using external information and the internal states; a learning unit for adapting the virtual creature to external states; and a behavior implementation unit for realizing the behavior of the virtual creature.